“. . . remember the poor . . .” from Galatians 2:
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem . . . when they saw that the gospel for the uncircumcised had been committed to me, as the gospel for the circumcised was to Peter . . . and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that had been given to me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They desired only that we should remember the poor, the very thing which I also was eager to do.
“They desired only that we should remember the poor. . . .” What an extraordinary phrase! Sadly, it is a phrase that would not be said today to anyone that is sent out from a conservative congregation in the USA. I find myself thinking that today we would say many many other things to someone being approved, and would never mention the poor. What has happened to us today that the phrase that Saint Paul spoke would probably not be spoken by any orthodox (conservative) Christian?
I fear that too many of us Orthodox would cheerfully present a “necessary” list that would not have the poor listed anywhere. I am sure that we would list the Bible, Holy Tradition, the Seven Ecumenical Councils, the Confession of Dositheus, etc., etc. I wonder whether any of us would list the poor. I wonder whether any of us would even think of the idea that we should “remember the poor.”
In fact, too many of us have bought into the idea that Orthodoxy is only about the doctrines that we teach, the fasts that we practice, and the various Liturgies that we celebrate. When we talk about living the Orthodox life, we are often referring only to attending more Liturgies than other people, to keeping the fasts in the strictest fashion, to complaining about any “changes” approved by our hierarchs as though they were destroying the Orthodox faith.
But, few of us have the poor in any type of priority in our lives. Look again at the quote from Saint Paul in the book that he wrote to the Galatians. His claim is that both he and the Twelve Apostles had the poor as such a high priority in the life of the Church that the Twelve Apostles requested that Saint Paul, and those who went to preach to the Gentiles, make some provision for reaching out to the poor. Would you say that today?
Sadly, do you know what too many Christians today would say? They would speak about personal responsibility. They would speak about how the Church should take care of the poor and not the government. Meanwhile real actual financial figures show that giving by Christians to social causes is nowhere near enough to deal with the plight of the unemployed and the families who are below the poverty level.
Around the year 160 AD, Lucien, the satirist, said:
The earnestness with which the people of this religion help one another in their needs is incredible. They spare themselves nothing for this end. Their first lawgiver put it into their heads that they were all brethren.
The Emperor Julian wrote:
The impious Galileans relieve both their own poor and ours . . . . It is shameful that ours should be so destitute of our assistance.
No one today would or could write such a thing about some of the richest churches in the world, the churches in the USA. I wonder what excuse we will give before the Lord when He asks us whether we remembered the poor?
Thank you, Father, for this! Doctrinal purity (as important as it may be) isn’t mentioned by Jesus in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats.
Sadly, do you know what too many Christians today would say?
They would speak of Far More Important Things Christians Must Do. Like Stop Obama, Stop The Fags, Put Young Earth Creationism (excuse me, “Intelligent Design”) and Prayer Back In Our Schools, and Save Souls, Save Souls, Save Souls into the Rapture Fire Escape. Culture War Without End, Amen.
I do not know about others, but in my experience, Christians and many others in the USA who would not identify themselves as Christian remember the poor as a regular part of their lives. They just do it quietly. I was taught from a very early age that an important part of my life was giving back to my community in various ways including giving to the poor. I see volunteers young and not so young helping at a wide variety of charitable institutions on a regular basis. Americans are some of the most generous people in the world in my experience….they just do not advertise it. They help by feeding the poor, taking meals to shut ins, visiting the sick, bringing 12 Step meetings into prisons, being Girl and Boy Scout leaders, feeding abandoned animals….you name it….Americans do it at home and overseas. Could we do more? Probably–but in my community, there are many both youth and elders and in between who give time, talent and treasure to help those who need it. Would the church say as it did to Paul–remember the poor? Well, at Divine Liturgy this morning Father talked about this very thing….imagine.
Alix